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Saturday, 25 October 2014

On Friday, October
24th, I stood atop a bridge that spans across a long
section of Highway 401 called the Highway Of Heroes. I stood there
with a hundred others, all of us strangers, all united for a single
purpose. To pay our respects and to give our thanks to one of our
own.

On October 22nd, an
armed man walked up to the War Memorial in Ottawa and shot a Canadian
Armed Forces Reservist twice before moving on to Parliament Hill,
firing rounds steps away from where our Prime Minister was meeting
with his caucus. My country was attacked by a brazen gunman, a man
who was born here, but whose heart lied with extremists. What
compelled him to attack the country he called home, I will never
know. And, quite frankly, I don't want to know. What I do know is, he
murdered a man, a soldier, who had devoted his life to protecting
this nation.

Corporal Nathan
Cirillo was serving with the Hamilton Argylls, and was stationed at
the National War Memorial in Ottawa. The memorial has been guarded
for several years after an idiot urinated on it. While guarding it,
Corporal Cirillo was killed. He was killed while serving on Canadian
soil. He leaves behind a six year old son, as well as countless
siblings in arms.

The gunman was shot
and killed by the Sergeant-at-Arms inside the Parliament Building. My
heart goes out to the Sergeant-at-Arms, as his life is forever
changed by the fact that he killed a man. Yes, it was a man who was
attacking his country, but he was still a man. My heart also goes out
to the family of the gunman, as they, like Cpl. Cirllo's family, must
bury someone they held dear.

So, I stood on the
overpass to pay my respects to Cpl. Cirillo. As I stood there waiting
for his motorcade to go by, I was filled with several different
emotions. I am still filled with them. I am shocked. I am sad. I am
appalled. I am angry. I am shocked that someone, a Canadian, would
attack their own country. I am sad that we have lost one of thousands
of selfless people who put themselves before their nation. I am sad
for the family of the gunman as their lives are forever changed. I am
appalled at the senselessness of the crime committed. How dare he
murder someone who had devoted their life to protecting him in a time
of war? I am angry that this atrocity happened in the first place. I
am angry that our nation of peace has been attacked. The fact that
Cpl. Cirillo was killed while serving on Canadian soil makes it hurt
all that much more; it's like pouring salt in a wound. It has hit
extremely close to home.

Cpl. Cirillo's motorcade.

Note all those who pulled overto pay their respects.

If you haven't
figured it out by now, I am a proud Canadian, and I stand by my
country. I am proud that my country is as peaceful and accepting as
it is. My city of Toronto is a beautiful mosaic of different
cultures, all of whom are calling Canada home. Canada is a place of
refuge for many; it is a place they come to to escape their own
war-torn countries. They come here seeking peace. They did not come
here to see our nation's capital attacked so brazenly by a gunman
with a grudge. They came here for the same reason I continue to live
here: Peace.

I pray that the
fallout from this does not cause a war against races and creeds. I am
a spiritual person, and I will gladly be friends with anyone of any
religion, so long as there is mutual respect. I have friends who are
Muslim, Wicca, Buddist, Shinto, Heathen, Pagan, and Atheists. I love
each and every one of them because they are my friends. I have stayed
at work for an extra ten minutes past the end of my shift so my
Muslim co-worker could pray. The thing we need to remember is, there
are extremists in every culture, and in every religion. (It's one of
the reasons I consider myself spiritual rather than religious.)
However, good is to be found in the other cultures and religions of
the world. I love my country, because I love being surrounded by the
different cultures, and being able to try all of the different
cuisines. I love learning about other cultures, because every culture
is unique.

I won't lie to you,
a part of me is glad the gunman is no longer walking among us. He
murdered a soldier in a country of peace, someone who is a
brother-in-arms to my cousin, who is also a Corporal with young
children. However, as I stated before, my thoughts are with the
gunman's family as their lives will never be the same. My thoughts
are with Cpl. Cirillo's family, and I can only hope his son
understands the sacrifice his father made. I hope everyone
understands the sacrifice Cpl. Cirillo has made. As someone with
family in the military, and as someone who is pro-military (but
anti-war), I understand. My great-granduncle was killed in 1917 in
France, two weeks shy of his nineteenth birthday. My cousin is in the
Armed Forces, and though I would be extremely proud to tell anyone
that I have family serving overseas, I pray he remains on Canadian
soil; I pray I never have to worry about him the way so many others
worry about their family members.

I am confident that,
as a nation, Canada will rise from this tragedy far stronger than it
went into it. Canada is a strong country; we are strong people,
though to outsiders, we seem very docile. In reality, Canada is a
sleeping bear. You do NOT poke a sleeping bear, and you sure as hell
do not go after her cubs. Our military is strong and swift, and I am
proud of each and every member of our Armed Forces on land, sea, and
in the air. O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

With that, I will
leave you with this sentiment: If you do not stand behind our troops,
you are more than welcome to stand in front of them.

Friday, 17 October 2014

November
is two weeks away! Two weeks! That's it! This means that I am
currently a cauldron of emotions. I am excited, I am nervous... I am
on the verge of insanity. Why? Because, the 2014 session of National
Novel Writing Month (NaNo) is just around the corner. For those who
do not know what NaNo is, it is a challenge for writers to write
50,000 words between November 1st and November 30th.
It is the time of year you may find your friends, colleagues, or
family members stocking up on coffee, tea, and Reese's Peanut Butter
Cups. It is the time of year when these people can look like death
warmed over while somehow coming alive. Those people are a very
special breed of Human. They are the ones who, for one month of the
year, get very little sleep, are highly over-caffeinated, just about
go insane, and still manage to function. They are amazing. And I am
proud to be a part of this amazing, crazy, enthralling group of
people.

November
has become my favourite month of the year because of this lovely
writing challenge. I first heard about NaNo back in the early 2000s
not long after it first started, but I never gave it much thought. A
friend of mine brought to my attention year after year, but I still
didn't give it much thought. 50,000 words? No one could ever write
that in a month! Then came November 2012. I had been working on a
trilogy for 4 years, and was having a very slow go with it. Things
had changed in it; I originally had three main characters – two
females and one male – and things were feeling a bit lopsided. So,
I decided to split the one male character into two; his personality
and appearance went into one character, and his story arc became a
whole new person. This meant I had to rewrite what I had of the first
book because suddenly adding in a fourth character wasn't going to
work for me. So, I started rewriting the first ten chapters. Then,
October rolled around, and I realized I was still having a slow go
with this project. Suddenly, NaNo had a purpose for me. I was going
to use NaNo to finish that darn rewrite and then continue the novel.
I finished that rewrite! But, I also ended up bouncing back and forth
to a fanfic I had been working on. (I have a very bad habit of
bouncing between projects.) I did not win that NaNo; I finished with
18,000 even, and every one of those words was handwritten. In spite
of not winning, I had a great time. I met so many people who were
incredibly welcoming, and warm – some of them were downright
cuddly. They were amazingly encouraging, especially on those days
when writing even two words is like pulling molars. They made my word
count of a mere 18,000 feel like a victory.

2013
was another jam-packed NaNo for me. I did not win that year either; I
finished with 28,000. But, again, I was among a group of wonderful
people who encouraged me, held me accountable, and held my ending
word count as a victory. It was great for me just to participate
again.

Now,
I'm gearing up for the 2014 NaNo season. My planning has included
writing biographies for my four main characters as well as some
important supporting characters. I am hoping these biographies will
also help me organize what is to come, and make the writing easier. I
have taken on a new role this year within my NaNo region. * I am an
event mod for the Toronto NaNo group, as well as a chat room mod. I
am honoured to have been asked to become a mod, and I am both nervous
and excited to take it. NaNo 2014 is going to be a whole new
experience for me, an experience I cannot wait to have. I am hoping
this new role will give me a whole new batch of inspiration and
enough of it to hopefully win this year. Winning a NaNo would be an
awesome accomplishment.

I
cannot wait to see the faces of all those I have met over the three
years I have partook in his daunting challenge, and I'm even more
excited to meet new faces. NaNo is a journey that is beautiful, yet
scary. It is a journey that, I find, is best done in good company.
The company makes the journey all that more worth while.

When I
tell people about NaNo, I am often looked at as though I have three
heads and I am crazy for attempting such a feat. Perhaps I am crazy.
No... I know I'm crazy; I'm
downright insane! But,
it is a wild ride, and as I've said, I have met some incredibly
wonderful people along the way. They make all the insanity of little
sleep coupled with a
dangerous amount of caffeine so very much worth it.

Are any
of you partaking in NaNo this year? Are you a veteran, or are you new
to the craziness? Regardless of your NaNo stature, I wish all of you
the very best of luck in writing your novels. It doesn't matter if
you finish with 50,000, 100,000, or 1,000. The only thing that
matters is, that you have written.